The Walkmen – Bandwidth

Review: Walter Martin, ‘Arts & Leisure’

Stephen Thompson — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 23:00:00 +0000

Note: NPR’s First Listen audio comes down after the album is released. However, you can still listen with the Spotify playlist at the bottom of the page.

After The Walkmen announced an “extreme hiatus” at the end of 2013, the band’s members scattered in many artistic directions: Singer Hamilton Leithauser, for example, made a Walkmen-esque solo record that showcased his brooding side, while multi-instrumentalist Walter Martin made a playful, guest-star-laden album for kids called We’re All Young Together. That set’s lightness carries over to Martin’s more grown-up (if still Jonathan Richman-esque) follow-up, Arts & Leisure, which has a loosely ambling quality to it that’s hard to resist.

It doesn’t take long for Martin to set that tone, either: Arts & Leisure opens with “Jobs I Had Before I Got Rich And Famous,” in which he lists a handful of unambitious money-making tasks — mowing lawns, delivering roses and pizzas, running a switchboard, that sort of thing — between sweet, whistled interludes. Martin’s description of his current life as a rich-and-famous person feels tongue-in-cheek, but the diaristic details that precede it don’t; instead, they come off like excerpts from a conversation with a self-deprecating buddy.

From there, Arts & Leisure heads down an agreeable assortment of narrative detours, with heavy emphasis on the subject of art (“Watson And The Shark”), artists (“Michelangelo”), art museums (“Daniel In The Lions’ Den”) and architects (“Charles Rennie Mackintosh”). But as lofty as its subject matter can get, the album never strays from the knockabout charm that has become Walter Martin’s stock in trade. It may traverse a few major European cities and big-city art museums, but Arts & Leisure never strays far from front-porch friendliness in doing so.

Peter Matthew Bauer On World Cafe

WXPN-FM Staff — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 15:21:00 +0000

Peter Matthew Bauer, formerly the bassist and keyboardist for The Walkmen, released his first album as a solo artist — titled Liberation! — earlier this year. On his own, Bauer takes the lighter tones of The Walkmen’s later albums, Lisbon and Heaven, and sets them loose in the air. Songs like “Philadelphia Raga,” heard at the top of today’s episode of World Cafe, move with a been-around-the-block swing that anchors glittering guitar work.

Hear the full episode at the audio link, as well as individual songs below.

Hamilton Leithauser: Tiny Desk Concert

Bob Boilen — Mon, 21 Jul 2014 14:39:26 +0000

This is the second time Hamilton Leithauser has graced the Tiny Desk. Two summers ago, he and his band The Walkmen played a powerful set of songs from their final album for now, Heaven. The Walkmen announced an indefinite hiatus toward the end of 2013, and since then we’ve heard strong solo records from Walter Martin and Peter Matthew Bauer — and, of course, Leithauser himself, which is what prompted us to invite him back.

These songs put Leithauser’s voice front and powerfully center, even more than it was in the band. There’s a more relaxed feel all over his new solo album, Black Hours, though a few full-throttle tunes get the most out of his huge voice — including the second song from this set, “Alexandra.” Along with The Walkmen’s Paul Maroon on guitar, Leithauser brought along Hugh McIntosh, who played drums in Leithauser’s old band The Recoys. All in all, a fine re-introduction to a singer who’s lost none of his power, even as he’s matured and loosened as a performer.

Set List

“11 O’Clock Friday Night”
“Alexandra”
“5 AM”

Credits

Producers: Bob Boilen, Denise DeBelius; Audio Engineer: Kevin Wait; Videographers: Olivia Merrion, Nick Michael; Production Assistant: Stephen Thompson; photo by Olivia Merrion/NPR